Thomas Spero
Thomas "Shorty" Spero (died 1980), Shorty was a feared capo in the Colombo crime family. Family and Personality "Shorty" was the brother of fellow Colombo family soldier Ralph Spero and the uncle of Thomas "Tommy" Spero, a Colombo family associate. One Colombo family associate turned informant, Joseph Cantalupo, described him as "a violent individual, there was nothing nice about Shorty Spero..." and that they were once playing a friendly game of cards at the home of another Colombo family member and Cantalupo caught Shorty cheating. When Cantalupo told him that he was cheating Shorty's response was to pull out a gun and put it to his head and said to him "Don't you ever call me a f*****g cheat again, or ill blow your brains out". Introducing "The Bull" to the mob In 1968 Shorty Spero opened the door for a young hood named Salvatore Gravano to move into organized crime. Tommy Spero (Shorty's nephew), was a fellow member of a youth gang called the Rampers along with Gravano and told Gravano that his uncle Shorty had heard of his reputation and was anxious to meet him. Gravano accepted the invitation. Gravano said that Shorty had a brief speech for him: "Ive had my eye on you. Why not come with me? You're a tough guy, but you cant keep doing things your own way. You cant live your whole life on your own. Sooner or later, you're going to get in real trouble or get killed. Ill give you a different relationship, where you can be somebody." Soon after Gravano became an associate of the Colombo crime family in Shorty Spero's crew. Spero had in his crew Sammy Gravano, Ralph Ronga (killed later by police during a holdup), Joe Colucci, jis nephew Tommy and another mobster known as Lenny the Mole. By this time Shorty was a mid level member of the Colombo's and was an associate of future boss, Carmine Persico. The Colucci Murder In 1970, Gravano committed his first murder— that of Joseph Colucci, a fellow member of Shorty's crew, with whose wife Tommy Spero (Shorty's nephew) was having an affair. The way Gravano explained the turn of events was that he was told Colucci was gunning for him. The reason for this, as explained to Gravano, was that after Colucci killed both him and Shorty he could then seek revenge on Tommy without having to worry about retaliation. Colucci's mistake in this twisted plot was taking into confidence another member of the crew who quickly ratted him out. Using the man Colucci had confided in, Gravano and Tommy Spero planned the murder. After a night of drinking and dancing at the local clubs, Colucci was lulled into a false sense of security and shot in the back of the head by Gravano. A short time after the killing, Gravano and Tommy Spero were called to a hotel room in midtown Manhattan. Here Tommy described the murder to the hierarchy of the Colombo family, among them; Carmine Persico, Gennaro Langella, Salvatore Albanese, Allie Boy Persico, Hugh McIntosh and Shorty Spero. Shorty Spero would later allow Gravano to leave the Colombo family and join the Gambino crime family to peacefully resolve a conflict that had developed and avoid violence. Death In the late 1970's Ralph Spero (Shorty's brother) was killed, allegedly over a dispute with the Genovese crime family, and Shorty made it clear that he would seek revenge. In February 1980, Thomas "Shorty" Spero disappeared and was presumed murdered. Years later it was revealed that he was allegedly killed by Gerard Pappa and Pete Savino, who then proceeded to bury his remains. In July 1980 Pappa was shot to death in the Villa Sixty-Six Restaurant on Fourteenth Avenue and 66th Street in Brooklyn by a Colombo hit squad. It was revenge for carrying out the murder of suspected Colombo crime family stool pigeon Ralph Spero. Dominick "Mimi" Scialo allegedly ordered the Pappa hit. Around Thanksgiving 1987, police investigators on tips from informants, dug up the remains of a man that was later identified as Thomas Spero, who apparently had been killed execution-style. It is widely accepted that Spero was killed so he would not be able to take revenge on those who murdered his brother. Thomas "Shorty" Spero, a very feared and violent individual, came to a violent end. In the words of Joseph Cantalupo "He was a violent man, he lived that way and he died that way. So there's no more Shorty Spero". Category:Colombo Crime Family Category:Murdered Mobsters